music

Pick of the Litter: Blackbird hosts The Manxx

According to lore of The Manxx, singer and guitarist Sara Belle threw academic aspirations out the window to make rock and roll her one and only vocation. She made the right choice. Since then, The Manxx has held fast to its lo-fi trash sound while ripping through a bottomless well of increasingly well-crafted songs about “love and partying.” It's not easy to put polish on punk without losing some of the music's energy. But the band's latest release, Take Away Your Brain, proves the Denver denizens' rock and roll studies haven't been sidelined by all that love and partying. Instead, The Manxx has managed to shine up an apple that remains deliciously rotten to the core. Tonight The Manxx rocks Blackbird Buvette (509 Central NW), and the trio's first Albuquerque gig is guaranteed to be a high-energy showcase of danceable garage punk. Aside from the out-of-town awesomeness, other reasons to show up are local hero Marty Crandall (Sad Baby Wolf, ex-The Shins) brand-new power-chord band Award Tour and local surf-rock/punk trio Pool Party. This 21-plus concert kicks off at 10pm, and there's no cover. Blackbird Buvette • Sat Jun 28 • 10pm • FREE • 21+